Direct-current meter.



No.1'78'7,256.l PATENTED APR. ll, 1905. J. S. ANTHONY. DIRECT CURRENT METER.

APPLICATION FILED AUG.15, 1902.

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9. James Snthony @W m' u WMM@ No. 787,256. EATENTED 111 E.11, 1905.

J. s. ANTHONY.

DTEEGT GUEEENT METER.

APPLICATION FILED AUG.15, 1902.

2 SHEETS-SHEELL 2.

Ilm/@NEON Y James fmhony.

Eatented April 11, 1905.

UNITED STATES PATENT OEEIcE.

JAMES S. ANTHONY, OE NEINT YORK, N. Y., ASSIGNOR TO GENERAL ELECTRIC COMPANY, A CORPORATION OE NEINr YORK.

DIRECT-CURRENT METER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 787,256, dated April 11, 1905.

Application i'lled August l5, 1902. Serial No. 119,692I

To all whom, it may con/cern:

Be it known that I, JAMES S. ANTHONY, a citizen of the United States, residing at New York,county of New York, State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Direct-CurrentiMeters, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to electric meters for direct current, and more especially to that kind known as motor-meters. In allforms of direct-current motor-meters heretofore used the current is brought into the actuating'- coils by a commutating device or through a moving contact of some kind. This involves a certain amount of mechanical retardation which is not a constantfactor, and therefore introduces irregularities into the working of the meter.

`The object of my invention is to avoid all moving' contacts actuated mechanically by the moving element of the meter and provide for the necessary switching of the current by magnetically-operated devices or devices operating in an equivalent manner, as hereinafter described, and particularly pointed out in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure l is an elevation of the working parts of a meter embodying my invention, certain portions being' in section. Eig. 2 is a top plan sectional view on the line 2 2, Eig. l. Eig'. 3 is a dia gram of the circuits. Fig. 4 is a side elevation of a portion of the staff, showing' a modification. Fig'. 5 is a further modification.

The staff l is supported by a jeweled stepbearing 2 and is geared to the registering'- train 3 at its upper end, all as usual. Rigidly attached to thestaff is an armature of soft iron having a long' upper horizontal arma somewhat enlarged at its outer end, so that the mass of iron may be more readily acted upon by the actuating field-coils. The lower arm 5 is also horizontal and is provided with an enlargement 6 in the form of a segment of a circle for a purpose hereinafter set forth.

The actuating field-coils 7 7' 72,'&c., are arranged symmetrically around the stafiI l and concentric with 1t in the plane of the upper armature-arm 4, the axes of the co1ls being' preferably radial to the staff. The number of coils is immaterial; but I prefer to use eight or more, as with this number the movement of the armature is more uniform. The coils are supported by a suitable frame 8, of non-magnetic material. All the coils are of low resistance and as nearly alike electrically as possible. They are connected in series, and the whole winding' is in shunt to a resistance 9, which is in series with one of the mains l0 of the circuit whose energy is to be measured.

The terminals of each coil are electrically connected with a pair of contacts ll ll 112, &c., arranged adjacent the plane of revolution of the lower arm 5 of the armature. The contacts are preferably supported by an insulating-ring 19., in which they are radially adjustable by means of the insulated shanks 13, on which they are carried, and the set-screws 14E engaging' therewith. lVhen any pair of contacts is connected, their coil is denergized by being short-circuited. Adjacent each pair of contacts is a movable bridging' contact adapted to bridge the space between them, and thus connect them electrically, so that each pair of contacts, together with its bridging' contact, constitutes an electric switch. The bridging' contact is preferably a small soft-iron bar l5, pivotally suspended from a iiange 16 on the ring l2 and movable in a plane radial to the staff l, so that it may be operated by magnetic attraction from a body carried by the staff. It is held normally away from the contacts Il by a light spring' 17 or its eq uivalent and rests against a pillar 18, projecting from the ring' 12. The amplitude of movement of the bar between the pillar 18 and the contacts Il should be no greater than will insure the breaking of the circuit when the bar moves away from the contacts. The several bars are in the plane of revolution of the armaturearm 5 and quite near thereto.

The bridging' contacts are operated from the meter-staff without any actual contact between moving' parts in such amanner as to deenergize the iield-coils adjacent the armature on one side thereof, and the movable member of the meter is caused .to rotate bccause of the magnetic attraction existing between the armature and the lield-coils on the other side.

The operation of my meter is as follows: Suppose the long arm A; of the armature is in the position shown in Fig. 3 between the coils 7n 77. Then the shorter arm of the armature will be opposite the contacts 1li and ll ln order to have the arms balance each other, I prefer to arrange them in the same vertical plane, but on opposite sides of the stati', as shown, though it is evident that they may stand at any desired angle with each other. 1n any event the contacts for each coil must bc so placed that when the long arm stands between two coils one of these and the one next in the rear will be connected with the contacts opposite the short arm of the armature. If the circuit of the mains lO is now closed, the magnetic flux of the coils 7 77 will magnetize the armature, and its short arm will attract the bars l5 of the contacts 11' ll", thus short-circuiting the coils 75 7 This leaves the coil 7 7 free to attract the armature 4, moving it in the direction of the arrow in Fig. 3; but when the armature reaches the center of the coil77 this coil is short-circuited by the contacts 1lZ and the armature continues its movement, attracted by the next coil 7. rl.`he speed of the meter under these circumstances is proportional to the square of the current, and the load on the meter may therefore be produced by fans 19 on the armature-staff.

lf desired, a permanent magnet 2O may be substituted for the soft-iron shorter arm 5, as shown in Fig. t; but in that case the permanent magnet must be separated from the longer arm i magnetically. It may also be found desirable to interpose a magnetic shield between the two arms, such as a plate of soft iron 2l at right angles to the staff.

By substituting for the larger arm of the armature a coil with its axis radial to the staff and its winding connected across the mains of the circuit to be measured, so that the current passing' through the coil will always be proportional to the potential on the line, the instrument will register watts instead of amperes. It will be necessary in this ease to use a permanent magnet for the lower arm of the armature and to provide a Foucault disk and magnet instead of the fans above mentioned. This construction is indicated in Fig'. 5, wherein the coil is shown at 22 andthe damping-disk at 23.

In order to compensate for a proper lag or lead in the adjustment of the meter, the ring l2, carrying the contacts 1l ll, &c., may be angularly adjustable with reference to the frame on which the lield coils are mounted. Such an arrangement is shown in Fig. 2, the brackets 24C on the field-frame having slots 25 concentric with the stafl l, so that the ring 1Q can be angularly adjusted by shifting the supporting-bolts 26 in said slots.

\/Vhat I'claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is-

l. An electric motor meter, comprising a plurality of lield-coils, an armature operatively related thereto, switches for niodi fying the circuit connections of said lield coils in such a manner as to operate the movable element of the meter, and means lixed with reference to the armature for operating the said switches without actual contact therewith.

2. An electric motor-meter, comprising a plurality of field-coils, an armature operatively related thereto, switches for deenergizing the held-coils adjacent to the armature on one side to operate the movable element of the meter, and means fixed with reference to the armature arranged to operate the said switches without actual contact therewith.

3. An electric motor meter, comprising a plurality of iield-coils, an armature operatively related thereto, switches for modifyi ng the circuit connections of the field-coils in such a manner as to operate the movable element of the meter, and means lixed with reference to the armature arranged to actuate said switches by magnetic attraction.

4. An electric motor meter, comprising a plurality of lield-coils, a body of magnetic material constituting an armature operatively rclated to said coils, and magnetically-o1 )erated switches for deenergizing one or more of said lield-coils in succession to operate the movable element of the meter.

5. An electric motor-meter, comprising a plurality of field-coils, a body of magnetic material constituting an armature operatively related to said coils, switches for deenergizing one or more of said coils in succession to operate the movable element of the meter, and means fixed with reference to the armature for operating the said deenergizing-switches without actual contact therewith.

G. An electric motor-meter, comprising a plurality of field-coils, a body of magnetic material constituting an armature operatively re- -lated to said coils, and magnetically-operated switches for deenergizing the lield-coils adjacent to the armature on one side to operate the movable element of the meter.

7. An electric motor-meter, comprising` a plurality of field-coils, a body of magnetic material constituting an armature operatively rc lated to said coils, magnetically operated switches for deenergizing the field-coils adjacent to the armature on one side to operate the movable element of the meter, and a niagnet fixed with reference to the armature arranged to actuate said switches by magnetic attraction.

8. An electric motor-meter, comprising a plurality of field-coils concentric with the lneter-staff, an armature on said stati' having its IOO vIOS

ITO

' axis radial to said coils, and magnetically-operated switches in circuit With said coils and controlled by said armature.

9. An electric motor-meter, comprising a plurality or' iield-coils concentric with the meter-stat, a soft-iron armature on said staii? having one arm in inductive relation to said coils, and switches in circuit with said coils and responsive to magnetism in the other arm of said armature.

10. An electric motor-meter, comprising a A plurality of field-coils concentric With the meter-staff, an armature in inductive relation to said coils, contacts connected with the terminals of said coils, movable bridging contacts cooperating with the coil-contacts, and means for operating said bridging contacts in synchronism with the rotation of the armature.

ll. An electric motor-meter, comprising a plurality of field-coils concentric with the meter-staff, an armature in inductive relation to said coils, contacts connected With the terminals of said coils, soft-iron movable bridging contacts cooperating with the coil-contacts, and a magnetized arm on said staff for successively operating said bridging contacts as the stai'il rotates.

1Q. An electric motor-meter, comprising a plurality of tieldcoils concentric with the meter-staff, an armature in inductive relation to said coils, contacts connected with the terminals of said coils, movable bridging contacts cooperating with the coil-contacts, means for operating said bridging contacts in synchronism With the rotation of the armature, and means for angularly adjusting all of the coilcontacts.

1n witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand this 12th day of August, 1902.

JAMES S. ANTHONY.

Vitncsses:

BENJAMIN B. HULL, EDWARD VVILLIAMs, Jr. 

